Level attachment



April 20,1926. '1581249 L. W. TIFFANY 4 A lLEVEL K'rncauwr Filed June 27. 1923 @2M www.

Patented Apr. 20, 1926.

LEVERETT w. Tirreni, or WINsTEn, CONNECTICUT.

LEVEL ATTACHMENT.

' Application ned June 27, 1923. serial N0. 647,976.

and useful Improvements in Level Attachments, o-f which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to ywhich it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an instrument, such as a level, and aims to provide a device of this character presenting certain improved constructions over articles of this nature, as heretofore designed.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device of the type stated, with which certain mechanism is associated, whereby the degree of inclination of a surface may be accurately and quickly ascertained. l L

A further obj ect of this invention is that of providing mechanism which may be in the nature of an attachment to a level or similar instrument, and whichV will be capable of being manufactured at a nominal cost.

A still further object of this invention is that of constructing an attachment capable of being associa-ted with an instrument such as a level without necessitating a modification of construction on the part of the latter. v

Another object of the invention is that of furnishing a level attachment, the yparts of which may readily be assembled 0r detached from each other by an inexperienced person and without the employment of any tools. y

Still another object of the invention is that of providing an attachment preferably for use with a level, which attachment when in use will present an indicato-r capable of being quickly read, and which when not in use will in nowise interfere with the customary usage of the'level for. the ordinary purposes in connection with which the latter 'is employed.

Other ob-'ects of theinvention will in part be obvious Vand will in part appear hereinafter. i

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a conventional form of level and showing the mechanism of this invention in use thereon,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional side view of one end ofthe level, this view being taken along the lines 2-2 and in the direction of lthe arrows indicated at Fig. 3, and

Fig 3 is an endview of the device as y shown in Fig. 1.

In these several views it will be noted that the numeral 5 indicates the body of a level with which there is associated as at 8 any desirable type of level tube 6. It is to be here understood, however, that although the present invention is particularly designed for use in connection with a level that the attachment may be utilized to advantage inV numerous different associations. l

Referring to the construction of the device, it will be noted that inthe present instance the mechanism has been shown in kthe nature of an attachment to the level, and thus the numeral 7 indicates a plate which forms the base of the attachment and is secured to one end of the level body 5. To provide means acting as a level supporting leg and serving to support the level body in a plane inclined with respect to the surface upon which it rests, and to also provide angle indicating means, serving to register the degree of this inclination, it will be noted that in the present instance a plate 9 is employed. This plate is slidably mounted `upon the base of the attachment, and is retained inapplied position with respect thereto by any suitable means, such as for eX- ample by utilizinga headed pin 10 which has its stem projecting into the level body` its outer end extending beyond the base of the attachment and through a slot 11 in the body of the plate. A screw 12 is employed for the same purpose, and likewise extends into the body of the level, through an opening in the base and through a slo-t 13 in the plate 9, and inorder to provide means serving toengage the thread of this screw and to permit of the same beingrotated with respect to the body of the level, it is preferred that the latter be tapped to receive apnnt 1-1 for Y 'the accommodation of the stem of the screw. kThe head of the screw is knurled as at 15,

and a spring washer 16 may encircle the stem of this member and be interposed between the head of the same and the plate 9.

It is obvious that by releasing the pressure upon the washer 16, the plate may be 110 freely moved longitudinally of the base, and after these elements are brought to a desired position with respect to each other7 a subsequent tensioning ot the washer, by means of the screw, will cause the former to bear against the plate and exert suiiicient pressure to prevent any movement of the parts. It' it is desired to completely remove the plate from the base, this may readily be accomplished by simply removing the screw 12 and subsequently swinging the plate to extend in a line substantially at right angles to the base, at which point by virtue ot the fact that certain of the edges of the head of the pin 10 have been cut away, as is indicated at 17, the plate may be entirely removed from the base, it being noted in this connection that the flattened portion 17 of the pin head is arranged in such a manner that the space between the edges of the same is less than the distance between the longitudinal edges of the slot l1.

The lower edge of the plate 9 may be turned as indicated at 18 to provide a. foot portion which will bear against a` supporting surt'ace as has been indicated in Fig. 1, and it' desired the upper edge of this plate may be bent outwardly to provide a manipulating portion 19 by means of which the said plate may be moved with respect to the base ot the attachment. In order to provide an indicator for the device which will register the amount ot ino-vement of the plate with respect to the base, the latter may present a series of graduations 21 and a portion of the plate 9 may be cut out or notched as at 20, and thus it will be understood as has been clearly brought out in Fig. 3, that the greater the movement of the parts aforementioned the greater will be the number of graduations 19 which will be exposed.

In applying the attachment to a level it will he understood that the base of the former is secured to the body of the latter in any desirable manner, such as for example by the means aforedescribed, and the plate 9 may be likewise secured to the base. Normally the lower end of the plate may align with, or be raised beyond the lower edge oiz the level body, so that this member may be utilized in a conventional manner. Assuming that it is desired to employ the attachment to measure the degree of inclination, tor example, of the surface indicated in Fig. 1, the level body is rested upon this surface and the plate of the attachment is moved to the position shown in the gure aforementioned, and the parts are adjusted until the bubble, or other indicator .employed in the level, reaches its proper position. By means of the head 15 of the screw 12, the latter may now be tightened and by ascertaining the reading of the scale provided by the graduations 21 and the edge of the notch 20, the exact degree of inclination may be had.

Thus, it will be obvious that all the objects of this invention are accomplished, and it is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tov ooverl all of the generic and speciiic features of the invention herein described, and all statements oi'I the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A level attachment, including a base, a plate beyond and movable over the outer tace et said base, the upper corner of said plate being :formed with a notch, said base being formed with a scale upon its outer tace and adjacent its side edge, the graduations of saidvscale being visible within said notch, said plate being formed with a slot, a headed screw connected with said base and having its shank extending through said slot, and a split-washer encircling said shank and engaged by the inner edge of the screw head, the inner edge of said washer bearing against the outer face of said plate to retain the parts in applied position.

2. A level attachment, including a base, a plate beyond the same and movable thereover, said plate being formed with a pair of longitudinally-extending slots arranged parallel to each other, a headed screw associated with said base and having its shank extending through one of said slots whereby said parts may be prevented 'from moving relatively to each other, a headed member also associated with said base and having vits shank extending through the second of said plate slots, its head being` disposed transversely of the direction of said slot whereby attei' detachment of said screw said plate may be swung to have that slot extend parallel to said head to permit of a detachment of said parts, and means for register-- ing the relative amount ot displacement 'of said base and plate.

ture.

YliEVER-Erlrl W7. TFFANY.

In testimony whereof I atiix my signa- 

